armil
(ˈɑːmɪl)
Also 5–6 armille, -ylle, 7–8 -ill.
[partly a. OF. armille:—L. armilla; partly a more recent adaptation of armilla.]
1. A bracelet; = armilla 1.
| 1480 Caxton Ovid's Met. xiv. xiv, The Armilles hangyng on their lyfte sides. 1483 ― Gold. Leg. 68/4 The dyademe fro his heed and the armylle fro hys arme. |
2. One of the insignia of royalty, put on at the coronation. Cf. armilla 2.
| 1485 Coron. Hen. VII in Rutl. Papers 18 The king..shall take armyll of the Cardinall..and it is to wete that armyll is made in maner of a stole wovyn with gold and set with stones. 1761 Brit. Mag. II. 503 His majesty was then invested with the armill, the purple robe or imperial pall, and orb. 1847 W. Maskell Mon. Rit. III. 28. 1849 Rock Ch. of Fathers I. v. 436 The armil, or bracelet, was looked upon by the Anglo-Saxons as one among the badges of royalty. |
3. = armilla 4.
| 1837 Whewell Hist. Induct. Sc. I. iii. iv. §3 Eratosthenes is said to have obtained, from the munificence of Ptolemy Euergetes, two Armils or instruments compounded of circles, which were placed in the portico at Alexandria. 1876 Mrs. Whitney Sights & Ins. II. xiv. 441 A marble gnomon and two bronze armils..for noting the lines of light. |
† 4. armil sphere = armillary sphere. Obs.
| 1556 Recorde Cast. Knowl. 54 Rather..an Armylle or Ringe sphere, then absolutely a sphere. 1611 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. ii. 85 Whether..a Solide or Armill sphere. |